Amla-Kallis combo works wonders for SA

Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis not only put South Africa in a good position in the opening Test against Australia with their third wicket stand, but also surpassed the pair of Gary Kirsten and Kallis himself to go atop the list for most runs in partnership for a South African pair in Test cricket. Amla, who became the seventh South African to score in excess of 5000 runs, put on a stand worth 165 runs with Kallis which took their partnership aggregate to 3636 runs, 44 more than Kirsten and Kallis.

Amla and Kallis have been involved in 11 century stands for South Africa which puts them second on the list of most century stands for South Africa, behind the pair of AB de Villiers and Kallis.

Most runs in partnership for South Africa:

Players

Innings

Not-outs

Runs

Highest partnership

Average

100 run stands

50 run stands

Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis

58

3

3636

377*

66.10

11

8

Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten

64

6

3592

249

61.93

9

17

Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith

68

3

3274

368

50.36

7

13

Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith

53

1

3094

259

59.50

9

9

AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis

42

3

2954

256

75.74

12

7

Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten

63

0

2949

256

46.80

8

11

Amla and Kallis occupy the third spot in the list of best third wicket partnership aggregates in Test cricket. The Indian pair of Rahul Dravid & Sachin Tendulkar occupy the top spot while the Lankan duo of Mahela Jayawardene & Kumar Sangakkara rank second.

Most runs in partnership for the 3rd wicket in Tests:

Players

Innings

Not-outs

Runs

Highest partnership

Average

100 run stands

50 run stands

Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar

123

5

5826

249

49.37

18

23

Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara

85

2

5096

624

61.39

15

19

Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis

47

2

3290

377*

73.11

10

7

Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen

42

2

2544

175

63.60

10

12

Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan

38

0

2286

232

60.15

10

4

Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan

20

1

2020

363

106.31

6

6

The stand between Amla and Kallis is the 7th occasion of a century partnership for the 3rd wicket at The Gabba against Australia. The South African pair's partnership is the also second best at this venue for the third wicket against the Aussies while theirs is the sixth best 3rd wicket stand at this venue against the hosts. This is also the 8th best partnership overall for a visiting team at Brisbane.

Most runs in partnership for the 3rd wicket for a visiting team at the Gabba:

Players

Runs

In at

Out on

Innings

Match Date

Martin Crowe, John Reid

224

2/85

3/309

2

8 Nov 1985

Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis

165

2/119

3/284

1

9 Nov 2012

Graeme Hick, Graham Thorpe

160

2/59

3/219

4

25 Nov 1994

John Edrich, Peter May

124

2/23

3/147

3

26 Nov 1954

John Edrich, Alan Knott

109

2/136

3/245

2

27 Nov 1970

AIvin Kallicharran, Viv Richards

105

2/93

3/198

2

1 Dec 1979

Mahela Jayawardene, Michael Vandort

102

2/65

3/167

3

8 Nov 2007

Taking only the last six years into count, Amla and Kallis have scored the second most number of runs in partnership for the 3rd wicket in Test cricket and are the only ones apart from the pair of Jayawardene and Sangakkara to aggregate more than 3000 runs for the third wicket since 2006. If only overseas performance for the third wicket in the last six years is considered, then Amla and Kallis top the list.

Most runs in partnership for the 3rd wicket since 2006:

Players

Innings

Total runs

Runs overseas

Runs home

Highest stand

Average

100 run stands

Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara

60

3605

896

2709

624

61.10

10

Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis

47

3290

1436

1854

377*

73.11

10

Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen

42

2544

1168

1376

175

63.60

10

Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar

48

1812

1257

555

222*

38.55

5

Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan

15

1731

694

1037

363

123.64

5

Michael Hussey, Ricky Ponting

27

1176

510

666

137

45.23

3

Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith

25

1149

737

412

207

49.95

3

For partnership aggregates for all wickets in the last 6 years, the South African pair are ranked third and they hold the same spot as far as overseas partnerships are concerned for any wicket since 2006.

Most runs in partnership since 2006:

Players

Innings

Total runs

Runs overseas

Runs home

Highest stand

Average

100 run stands

Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss

132

5253

2251

3002

229

40.40

14

Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara

66

3722

954

2768

624

57.26

10

Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis

53

3507

1491

2016

377*

70.14

11

Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag

62

3108

1229

1879

233

51.80

8

Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith

53

3094

1159

1935

259

59.50

9

Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen

49

2982

1459

1523

175

64.82

11

(Note: Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar have scored 1557 runs in Test matches overseas which puts them second on the list of most runs in partnerships overseas since 2006. However, they do not make it to the above list as their home and overseas aggregate put together is 2295 runs, which puts them in the 11th spot)

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